I saw an old friend over the weekend. She is a wonderful woman, with a great sense of humor and a very sharp tongue. Her name is June, but you might know her as Timmy's Mom or maybe Mrs. Robinson.
It's not the foul-mouthed "Timmy" with the leg braces on South Park and it's not the Mrs. Robinson who seduced Dustin Hoffmans' on-screen character, but this friend probably could have played either character. She has the "chops".
June Lockhart was Timmy's mom on the 1954 hit TV series Lassie. Timmy was a little boy who had a dog named Lassie who seemed to have super powers. June was the gingham-aproned mother who constantly warned Timmy not to slam the screen door on the old farmhouse when he and Lassie went out to play or came running for dinner.
Then in the mid-1960's, June became Mrs. Robinson, the wife of the spaceman/professor John Robinson on the popular TV show Lost in Space. She wore a tight, metallic suit and sparred with a couple of robots on different planets in the solar system.
My friend June is a Tony award winning actress. She won it or her role on Broadway in "For Love or Money"
Her resume on TV and the stage is long and impressive.
I met June Lockhart while working in Los Angeles because June is a "news junkie". She has been a member of the Radio TV News Association of Southern California for over 20 years. She is a member of the White House Press Association. She love the news and people who report the news for a living.
I saw June over the weekend at an awards ceremony for journalists at Universal Studos in Hollywood. She smiled and hugged me as if it were yesterday that she visited my house and shared some wine and told stories about her business and we shared stories about ours.
June Lockhart is just one of those wonderful people who come into our lives and make it richer. Some may see her as a big movie and TV star. I see June as a genuine, warm, witty friend who understands the passion of broadcast journalism and is ready to dive in everyday and learn more.
When I think of her, I smile.
